I would steer clear of paracyprichromis and cyprichromis. Not only are they incredibly expensive (I've never seen any collection point of either species go for less than $10 a pop retail), but they do require to be in good sized schools. I honestly wouldn't do any for of cyp in a tank less than 6 feet, otherwise failure is a risk, and who wants to risk $100 minimum of fish (since they need a school)?
Since you have some experience under your belt, the amount of south/central americans opens up greatly. I would honestly look into the different species of cryptoheros (convict-like cichlids, but this doesn't include the convict) and throichthys (firemouths).
Cryptoheros: sajica, spilurum, myrnae, panamense (one of my favorites), nanoluteus, cryptoheros
Thorichthys: pasionis, maculipinnis, mixteco "blue" and "gold", aureum
Mogaruko could cue you in on some awesome wild type livebearers you could use as dithers and keep it as a Central American themed tank.
Otherwise, you're a bit limited in a 36 gallon if you want to try and avoid the truly dwarf species. But some ideas off the top of my head are crenicichla regani, compressiceps, or wallacei; cleithracara maronii, certain gymnogeophagus species (these require cool downs typically and aren't exactly 'easy' lol) hmm drawing a blank right now for some reason, check out Laetacara thayeri as well (rare, but can be found)